Donald Trump ‘Hateful Rhetoric’ Sparks Jewish Protest in New York City

Members of the Jewish group. ‘Bend the Arc Jewish Action,’ gathered at Trump Tower in New York City to protest the GOP candidate’s hateful and violent rhetoric. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Donald Trump’s “hateful and violent rhetoric” on the campaign trail sparked a protest by a Jewish group today (Sept. 29) outside Trump Tower in New York City. The GOP candidate is trailing badly among Jewish voters nationwide because of his perceived anti-Semitic views.

Trump didn’t help dispel concerns at a rally in Iowa yesterday (Sept. 28) after he asked “non-Christians” to identify themselves.

Then he asked the crowd of mostly Christian conservatives whether they should allow them to stay in the room.

Often after making them, Trump explains away his off-color, insensitive and outrageous remarks by claiming he’s being sarcastic.

But his Iowa antics hit a little too close to home for Jews, who were singled out and persecuted during the Holocaust.

Republican Jews — and more significantly Jewish donors to the Republican party — are abandoning Trump at a “stunningly high rate,” according to Nate Silver’sFiveThirtyEight web site.

Clinton would win 61 percent of the Jewish vote to Trump’s 19 percent, according to a new AJC survey of American Jews released Sept. 13.

Trump’s racism, religious intolerance and opposition to refugees are also taking a toll. “For a religious minority like Jews, who have a recent history of persecution and forced displacement, these issues are often especially salient,” according to Silver’s Web site.

Trump’s “lack of engagement with foreign affairs and unprecedented lack of experience in government” are also weighing heavily against him along with his contradictory statements on Israel.

In New York City, Bend the Arc Jewish Action protestors rallied outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue against what they called “hateful and violent rhetoric” by the candidate.

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